The 1,665-page and $1 trillion bill is a mouthful to read aloud in one session, it might just seem to be a miracle that it was approved at all. While the government can be notorious for hiding details within arbitrarily long bills, this one is cut and dry in some respects. What does the conservative American need to know about the new spending bill, and how will it affect most citizens?To conservatives just learning about the bill’s existence, a spending bill isn’t strictly limited to numbers for certain departments. Indeed, it might include directly changing the budget for a certain section, but it can also include changing the law on certain subjects that would indirectly affect government spending. An interesting policy included in this bill that illustrates this point is allowing the renaming of the “brown king crab” to the “golden king crab,” which, although not particularly important to the U.S. budget, can improve the business of fishing companies that want to sell their crabs as something more exciting than just “brown.”

With the funds allocated, the new bill moves on to the next step.

The main point of this spending bill is to prevent a government shutdown on Saturday when the current budget is depleted. By distributing more than a trillion dollars to various government agencies, the shutdown can be stalled past September.President Trump has been very strong on immigration issues, so it’s not surprising to see that immigration issues have made their way into the bill, although most seem very counter to Trump’s presidential direction. An example of a counter-directional policy is found in the increase of the yearly amount of temporary work visas for immigrants, which has been doubled. Many conservatives believe that the temporary work visa is flawed and is open to abuse, so a cursory view of the bill can show that Trump lost some major battles in the bill.

Many of the policies are very simple. The ones that affect homeowners and typical citizens are few, but those that affect the country on a nationwide scale are many. For instance, many conservatives will be dismayed to hear that Planned Parenthood will not have their funding cut, as well money being cut for the deportation force and the federal budget cuts for the sanctuary states being canceled. Medical marijuana will also be under less scrutiny from the Department of Justice, as the DOJ completely loses the ability to use their budget to prevent states from “implementing their own laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.” As medical marijuana becomes increasingly easier and easier to get, whether it is through corrupt doctors or secondhand enablers, the DOJ and Attorney General Jeff Sessions will have their hands tied on this issue. As for recreational marijuana, the DOJ will retain the ability to crack down on any issues in that area, but the news is still yet to come on if this facet of the bill will develop any further.

Although Trump’s famous wall isn’t going to get built as soon as most think, $1.5 billion will go towards maintaining and upgrading the current infrastructure of the border. Even though Trump asked for $30 billion, only $12.5 billion will go towards fortifying the military strength, with the possibility of raising to $15 billion as Trump works on his battle plan to fight Islamic terror. Although not a clean win for either side, many conservatives will need to stay sharp in the coming days as the bill begins to take root and start to affect the nation. As always, The Conservative Nut will continue to watch the bill and other national issues in the coming weeks.